


heavy is the crown

by CkyKing



Category: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-14
Updated: 2017-04-14
Packaged: 2018-10-18 23:54:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,614
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10627827
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CkyKing/pseuds/CkyKing
Summary: Mourning beads are white. Nyx never thought he would one day have to wear them.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Originally posted on [tumblr](http://ckyking.tumblr.com/post/159395058464/omg-are-you-taking-prompts-can-i-ask-32-for) for the prompt "I came to say goodbye." Much thanks to [daemon](https://archiveofourown.org/users/daemon) for letting me use part of their braids!au~

It was a simple trip, Nyx kept repeating to himself, only a routine check on the border. Still, his instincts wouldn’t stop screaming at him, trying to warn him of the nebulous _something_ that awaited him.

There truly was no reason to worry. After all, he had done this multiple times at Noctis’ behest since Regis had officially passed his crown down to his son. Cor’s reports on the growing number of daemons that had started around the prince’s twentieth birthday had understandably worried the royals, and the Kingsglaive’s purpose had been changed in consequence years prior. The King’s personal army had turned into a border patrol after Niflheim’s fall, both their army and command structure wiped out by Shiva’s attack, magitek not yet developed enough to withstand an astral’s might. Since that day, Gralea had been considered lost, the Glacian’s wrath an eternal blizzard that shrouded the lands for miles around it.

Noctis had been eight at the time, and nine when Nyx had met him. And so, he had grown into a somewhat safer world, where he learned from father and teachers what it meant to be a prince, and then, progressively, to be a king.

The increasing amount of responsibilities had changed him, made both his presence and his beauty mature along the years, sharpening his features and lending _command_ to his every gestures. Elegant half-crown standing out sharply against the darkness of his hair and complementing the ornaments of his royal garb, Noctis cut an impressive figure from the top of the stairs that led to the Citadel. It was usual for everyone to see the King send off his troops, just as he always welcomed them, and especially his husband, back.

But this time, something had tightened in his chest as he had kissed his king goodbye, the clouded blue depths of his eyes at odd with the smile on his lips. Noct always worried when he left to check on the daemons’ progress across Lucis, but it had never been as apparent as in that moment. Even the last teasing pull at the braid representing their bond had seemed…oddly final, the sadness in Noctis’ eyes welling up before it was hidden once more.

He had not had the opportunity to address it before it was time to go, as subtly signalled by Ignis, always at Noctis’ side. Directing the Kingsglaive’s recruits to the military transport vehicles, he only managed to sneak one last glance at Noct’s somber face before he got on as well.

Nyx’s gut feeling was proved right when Noctis’ Engine Blade appeared in front of him instead of his trusty kukris as he summoned them, seeking to busy his hands during the journey. The recruits’ whispered conversations died the moment they noticed the sword hanging patiently in front of their captain, some of them recognizing it as the king’s own weapon. As it was, Nyx wouldn’t have been able to hear them even if they had kept talking, shock playing along his nerves and filling his ears with white noise.

With a blank mind and hands kept from trembling by sheer force of will, he slowly took the sword by the hilt. It was only as he moved it that the glaive noticed the little bag tied around the gear making up the guard, a quiet rattle echoing in the silence of the transport.

His throat closed up at the delicate clinking, because he knew that sound. Had become incredibly familiar with it in the aftermath of Galahd’s invasion. It had been both a blessing and a curse, knowing that a loved one had escaped the terrible fate of being consumed by the scourge, but not death. Never death.

He already knew what he would find as he pulled the leather bag open, but it did not stop the broken little noise that escaped his mouth as its content was revealed, two bone white beads standing out amongst the black, blues and purples of their respective clan colours.

As if triggered by this simple act, Noctis’ magic flooded him, blade a conduit for its owner’s power. Crystalline structures appeared around his hands and were destroyed just as quickly, forcing him to clench them around the objects he held to stop their quivering.

He hated with every fiber of his body what they meant for his husband’s fate, but if they were to be the last things he received from Noctis…Cursing himself, he sent them back to the ether, safe until he called them once more. However, this also meant that he was still alive, and hope kindled back to life in his chest.

His attention was brought back to the present by the surge of power that assaulted his senses.

Nyx threw the armoured van’s doors open just in time to catch the Wall shatter in a shower of giant glass-like shards. Even with the distance separating them from the city, he felt the sharp undertow of power as the magic that had protected Insomnia for decades was suddenly pulled back to its source, as it coiled back on itself like a leviathan preparing to rise from the depths.  

The explosion that followed left Nyx reeling as a - a _distortion_ spread outwards from the Crown City, leaving space oddly fractured in its wake. He brought up his arms to shield himself on instinct, even if he knew that it was useless against a force of this magnitude.

A few seconds passed before he finally lowered them, amazed in spite of himself by the absence of pain. His questions were answered when he looked around, and saw everyone and everything around him stuck in place, locked in time.

The thought had barely reached his mind before he was off, warping again and again back to Insomnia, to the Citadel, to Noctis. It was so easy, magic sending him farther than it ever had before, the road linking the Crown City to Leide unfurling beneath his feet. But he didn’t care, his whole body focused on the rhythm of throwing and catching, his heart beating out a single name again and again.

Sooner that he had expected, he was back at the city’s gate, time still sparkling blue in the air around him and strengthening the King’s, and his, magic. From there, it was a flurry of warps and jumps : wall to rooftop to billboard to wall again.

The closer he got to the Citadel, the worse he felt. His body protested against the abuse he was putting it through, but he stayed deaf to it; even as his vision blurred, even as his lungs screamed for air, even as the distortions got stronger. The many moments he had shared with Noctis kept him going; his smile first thing in the morning, brighter than the sun; the care with which he redid his braids as Nyx looked on possessively; the happiness that had lit his face once Nyx made it clear that he would never leave his side, if this was what he wanted.

Forgoing the traditional way, he warped directly up the building’s facade, mind rifling through the Citadel’s plans as he went higher and higher. As he neared the throne room from the outside, the world started humming around him, deep vibrations that went down to his marrow and made his blood sing with them. Still, he forged on, turned it into another way to find Noct.

Before he had realized it, he was in front of the throne room, surroundings ever-shifting because of the fractures in time and space. It was instinctive at this point to use the near-liquid quality of reality around him to shatter the door, crystalline power once again ready to be used.

As he reached his destination, he was greeted by the sight of more than a hundred weapons hanging in the air, every single one of the Lucii having answered their descendant’s call for arms, the return of the Crystal’s true power what they had waited for so many generations.   
  
“NOCTIS!” Nyx screamed, voice raw as he finally saw his king after having hoped and prayed for his survival.

What struck him as he looked at his lover’s profile was his hair, feathering around his neck and missing the many braids he had become used to seeing in their years together. His throat tightened with grief as he saw this, then came the anger that he had been waiting for, always there to ground him.

He was stopped before he could say anything when he noticed Regis kneeling at his son’s feet, looking up at him with tears in his eyes even as he struggled to rise. Still, Noctis made no move to help him, and only brought their foreheads together one last time before resuming his ascension toward the throne.

“Ah, Nyx….” Noct said softly, his back to him and voice carefully blank, “I hoped that you would be too late…”

“What the hell is wrong with you!? What are you hoping to do with this!?” Nyx shot back angrily, not moving from the throne room’s threshold. He knew that he had no hope of getting to Noct with the Royal Arms bearing down on him, but still, _still_.

“The daemons are getting stronger, and the nights are lengthening. This is the only way to keep the world, all of you, safe. It is…my duty, as your King”

He finally turned toward him, expression steely and resolute, but his eyes soft.

“Though…I am glad…that you came to say goodbye.”   
  
Noctis’ last words hung in the air as the world drowned in light, a prophecy forgotten by all but one being fulfilled, at last.


End file.
